I'm at a decision point for my RV-8 project and am curious to hear opinions on the EFII system vs mechanical injection systems.
As I see it the EFII system pro's are:
1) increased performance. They mention 10% increase but I'm not sure how you can truly quantify that.
2) Improved hot starts. I live in Arizona and am concerned about hot starts. I've never owned a fuel injected aircraft so I'm uncertain how large of a benefit that will be over mechanical injection.
3) The ability to use any fuel 91 octane or greater with or without ethanol. With the rising cost of avgas along with the uncertain future of 100LL that might be a nice benefit.
The cons as I see it are:
1) Electrically dependent aircraft. Obviously the electric system has to be very sound and a backup has to be incorporated. I'm leaning towards a backup alternator and single battery at this point but not certain.
2) Field serviceability is a concern as there is much more knowledge and available parts I would guess for mechanical systems.
There has been very little real feedback from the field on the EFII systems to help aid in my decision so I'm looking for any opinions from those that have installed the system or those that went down the same thought process as I and decided differently.
Thanks in advance for any information.
As I see it the EFII system pro's are:
1) increased performance. They mention 10% increase but I'm not sure how you can truly quantify that.
2) Improved hot starts. I live in Arizona and am concerned about hot starts. I've never owned a fuel injected aircraft so I'm uncertain how large of a benefit that will be over mechanical injection.
3) The ability to use any fuel 91 octane or greater with or without ethanol. With the rising cost of avgas along with the uncertain future of 100LL that might be a nice benefit.
The cons as I see it are:
1) Electrically dependent aircraft. Obviously the electric system has to be very sound and a backup has to be incorporated. I'm leaning towards a backup alternator and single battery at this point but not certain.
2) Field serviceability is a concern as there is much more knowledge and available parts I would guess for mechanical systems.
There has been very little real feedback from the field on the EFII systems to help aid in my decision so I'm looking for any opinions from those that have installed the system or those that went down the same thought process as I and decided differently.
Thanks in advance for any information.